In late 1975, I was at the 22nd Bomb Wing, Strategic Air Command, at March AFB, and USAF intelligence noticed all flights had halted at a MIG-25 base in eastern Siberia for an extended period of time. It was rather mysterious, no crashes had been detected, but it was assumed to be because of a safety issue.
The next year, when Viktor Belenko defected in a MIG-25, we learned what had happened: Russian troops at the base had stolen (and drank!) all the grain alcohol needed for the Foxbats to fly. Many court martials resulted. In Moscow, MIG designer Artyom Mikoyan was confronted by a very unhappy mother of one of the charged airmen, and she demanded to know "Why are you putting vodka in those planes?!?" Mikoyan replied, "Madam, I would put Armenian brandy in them if that's what it took to keep them flying!"
by Webb » Sun Dec 20, 2015 5:18 pm 
